Comfortable victory leaves title destiny in their own hands

East
Kilbride Rugby Club soared to the top of West Division One table on Saturday following their win over Newton Stewart in the game in hand they held over title rivals Irvine.

The scoreline perhaps suggests a comfortable victory for the home side but in truth it took them some time to subdue the powerful farmers.

Once
in front though, EK never looked like losing and had the satisfaction of collecting the maximum return courtesy of the four-try bonus.

After
an opening quarter in which there was little between the sides Ian Brown showed his startling combination of pace and power to cross in the
corner to put EK on the scoreboard.

Brown
was involved in the second try, the best of the day, when he carried on
the captain’s powerful break before slipping the ball to Mark Ellison and the oft-injured winger sent Fraser Little in for the score.

A
powerful run from Scott Shankie gave the full-back East Kilbride’s third try just before the half and Grant Seymour claimed the bonus point
score midway through the second period.

This
was a hard contest for EK. The heavy pitch suited the visitors but once
EK were able to move the ball about there was little doubt which way the game would go.

It is no coincidence that the backs claimed all four tries on the day, as this was the area in which EK clearly had the edge.

In
the quest for the league title the five point haul was all that mattered. Duly delivered, EK now sit atop the table, courtesy of a better try bonus score than their rivals, and now have complete control over their destiny with four games remaining.